WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans convicted of fraud and other white-collar crimes gained a new defender on Wednesday as an advocacy group that has long fought strict drug sentences launched a campaign pushing for lighter punishment for financial crimes. The advocacy group, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, contends that sentences in cases of fraud, insider trading and other economic crimes are sometimes excessive and inconsistent. Defense lawyers and some...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans convicted of fraud and other white-collar crimes gained a new defender on Wednesday as an advocacy group that has long fought strict drug sentences launched a campaign pushing for lighter punishment for financial crimes. The advocacy group, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, contends that sentences in cases of fraud, insider trading and other economic crimes are sometimes excessive and inconsistent. Defense lawyers and some...

Ronald Yates' article on the ADM "mole," Mark Whitacre, and the state of corporate ethics in general (Perspective, July 30), was on the mark, so to speak. Mr. Yates says those who run corporations view anti-trust laws like the 55-m.p.h. speed limit on highways--laws "meant to be broken." Inconvenient laws. What is the difference between being above an anti-trust law and being above a law against drug trafficking or murder? Why is "white-collar" crime just an annoyance on the way to the really important...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Disgraced politicians Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner are frontrunners in their comeback races, a poll released on Monday showed, with most voters more forgiving about sexual misconduct than financial corruption. "Notoriety has earned the 'Tabloid Twins' ... good initial numbers in the polls," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute which conducted the survey. Nearly two months before the September 10 Democratic...

By Terry Eastland, Director, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice | October 20, 1985

In an editorial ("A clear case of fraud," Sept. 27) you charge that the Justice Department is soft on white-collar crime. That charge simply does not withstand scrutiny. First of all, the facts are strong testament to the contrary; second, no one seriously doubts that it is essential to establish a motive before someone can be charged. A few facts merit a hearing. First, white-collar crime prosecutions have risen, as a percentage of total federal prosecutions, from 8 percent during...

After working as a commentator and host on Current TV and CNN following a career-aborting scandal, Eliot Spitzer is returning to politics, telling the New York Times on Sunday that he will be running for city comptroller in New York. Spitzer's decision to enter the race will test the public's ability to overlook past scandal, in his case his resignation in 2008 as New York's governor after it was revealed he had patronized high-end prostitutes. Anthony Weiner, another outspoken New York figure...

Cook County State's Atty. Jack O`Malley pledged Monday to reorganize his special prosecutions unit to put increased emphasis on public integrity and investigations of white-collar crime. O`Malley and his new first assistant, former Circuit Judge Kenneth Gillis, also announced at a news conference that they plan to streamline operations of the office to decrease the burden on crime victims, such as lessening the number of times they have to appear in court before being called...

Everyone in Chicago knows by now of the tragedy that likely prompted President Barack Obama's visit to the city Friday: the killing of 15-year-old honor student Hadiya Pendleton in a park last month. We know the equally tragic reason the president will use the city as a backdrop to pitch his gun-control agenda: More than 500 people were murdered in Chicago last year, more than any other city in the nation - and more than the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan in 2012.

A United Parcel Service supervisor in the collection department of the company's Addison facility was arrested and charged Monday with embezzling nearly $800,000 from the company over an eight-year period. Victoria Pavek, 47, of the 1000 block of West Downer Place, Aurora, remained Monday evening in the DuPage County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. Addison police said that Pavek diverted UPS funds into her own bank account to pay for personal expenses on numerous occasions between...

By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - In 2006, a political ad swept through the state of Arkansas, touting Asa Hutchinson's values as "shaped in rural Arkansas, a half-mile down a dirt road. " In his unsuccessful bid for governor, the former federal prosecutor and U.S. congressman touted his conservative political views and garnered a strong endorsement from the National Rifle Association, a powerful U.S. gun lobby. On Friday, the...

The Senate Judiciary Committee announced Thursday a series of hearings to assess the Justice Department's handling of white collar crime. Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond (R., S.C.) and Sen. Joseph Biden (D., Del.), the panel's ranking Democrat, said the initial hearings will be held on Feb. 27 and March 6. Additional hearings are planned for March 13 and 20, and will focus on white collar crime in the nation's financial institutions. In a statement, the two senators promised that the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey's U.S. prosecutor's office is picking up more insider trading cases, edging into territory that has historically been dominated by the federal prosecutors in New York City. The most recent case was unveiled on Monday when prosecutors in Newark announced charges against six people - three of whom were friends from high school - for their alleged roles in an insider-trading ring. The six have been charged for passing tips to each other...

Everyone in Chicago knows by now of the tragedy that likely prompted President Barack Obama's visit to the city Friday: the killing of 15-year-old honor student Hadiya Pendleton in a park last month. We know the equally tragic reason the president will use the city as a backdrop to pitch his gun-control agenda: More than 500 people were murdered in Chicago last year, more than any other city in the nation - and more than the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan in 2012.

By Chris Francescani NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The new head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's criminal division in New York, one of the nation's highest-profile law enforcement posts, is used to answering questions about her colorful 22-year career as an FBI special agent. April Brooks, 45, the first woman to run New York's FBI criminal division, worked gang cases in Los Angeles near the height of that city's crack epidemic. She was tracking...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey's U.S. prosecutor's office is picking up more insider trading cases, edging into territory that has historically been dominated by the federal prosecutors in New York City. The most recent case was unveiled on Monday when prosecutors in Newark announced charges against six people - three of whom were friends from high school - for their alleged roles in an insider-trading ring. The six have been charged for passing tips to each other...

Reports of Internet-based crime jumped 33 percent in 2008, according to a group that monitors Web-based fraud. The Internet Crime Complaint Center said in its annual report released Monday that it received more than 275,000 complaints last year, up from about 207,000 the year before. The total reported dollar loss from such scams was $265 million, or about $25 million more than the year before. About one in three complaints were for nonpayment or non-delivery. The other most common complaints...